Nakama's Eyes
by Flufflez McSugartop
Summary: They thought that they were chosen for Luffy's crew through whims, that Luffy just decided he liked them and that was that. They were right, of course, but there was so much more to it than that.


**So this is my first fanfic ever, and you'll notice there is no actual dialogue in it. This is because I am not good at keeping other people's characters in character and I would rather not butcher the personalities of the Straw Hats. At the same time though, this thought had been floating in my head a while now and I could not just** ** _not_** **share it. Will be cross posted on Wattpad under my username Zaria-Lianna.**

 **I do not own Luffy, Zoro, or any of the other Straw Hats, let alone One Piece. That honor belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda, and I'll be damned if anyone tries to take it from him.**

Luffy sat on the head of Sunny, looking at his crew go about their business. He was in one of his rare quiet moods, where he would rather observe than be the center of the party. Zoro was taking a nap on the deck at his side, Usopp was entertaining Chopper, who was taking a small break from his medicinal research, with extravagent tales. Sanji had just arrived on deck to bring Nami, who was caring for her orchard, and Robin, who was reading to herself, some cold drinks. Brook, as he usually did, was playing the violin, Yohoho-ing away, and Franky was making some small adjustments to the railings, reinforcing them after they got minorly damaged after their last scuffle with a Marine vessel.

Watching them, Luffy couldn't help smiling to himself. They thought that they were chosen for Luffy's crew through whims, that Luffy just decided he liked them and that was that. They were right, of course, but there was so much more to it than that. Yes, Luffy liked them, he never would have even considered them for his nakama if he didn't, but they were also, in a way, connections to his past.

Oh, he didn't know them before. No, they met for the first time after he began his adventure, but they reminded him of the various people that kept him going when he was young.

Like Zoro, who looked at the world through defiant eyes, similar to Ace, as if as though _daring_ the world to tell him to quit. He was also, in an odd way, similar to Shanks. You wouldn't notice it if you weren't looking for it, like Luffy was, but the similarities were there. Though Zoro didn't constantly look to party and play tricks on Luffy like Shanks had, they had the same laid back attitude, the same penchant for drinking sake, and, most importantly to Luffy, the same fierce, _you-want-them-you-go-through-me_ protectiveness of their nakama. Whether Zoro realized it or not, his eyes showed a concealed loneliness he probably didn't know he felt until it wasn't there anymore.

Or Nami, who, like Sabo, had been forced into a life she didn't want. True, Sabo had been forced to live with nobles, while Nami was forced into Arlong's pirate crew, but all you had to do was look into her eyes to see the same pain, the same loneliness that had haunted Sabo, before he... _left_. In the same way, Nami mirrored Ace and himself, Luffy thought, as she never wanted to work with Arlong's crew like they had worked for Bluejam. Oddly enough, Nami also kind of made him think of the bandits, especially Dadan. Maybe it was simply that she was a thief, who never hesitated, in the beginning, to run away if she was outclassed. Maybe, and Luffy decided this was more likely, it was that, though she resorted to violent tendencies when the boys were being their idiotic selves, her eyes always shined with hidden mirth at being included in this brand new form of merriment. She may have insisted originally that they were only temporary allies, before Arlong anyway, but Luffy could see in her eyes that crushing pain that made it all to clear she wanted to stay permanently.

Usopp, too, reminded Luffy of happy times upon their meeting. He was immediately recognizable to Luffy as Yasopp's son (with how Yasopp droned on, Luffy would be surprised if he didn't recognize him, even with his admittedly terrible memory), which made it almost immediately decided that they would be, at the very least friends, if not nakama. Luffy also suspected, even before seeing him shoot for the first time, that Usopp would be an even better sniper than his father. More than that, though, was the way he could draw Luffy into his stories, the way Shanks could when telling the Anchor about his previous adventures. Those stories that seemed to melt the feeling of being alone out of anyone who listened, no matter who they were. His eyes showed that, though he may not be alone, he was still lonely, and Luffy couldn't let that continue.

Then there was Sanji, and right off the bat, Luffy was reminded of Sabo from the blonde hair of all things. It was thanks to this similarity that Luffy watched him enough to notice how he was unfailingly polite, unless you pissed him off and earned yourself an ass-kicking. If Sabo were still here, Luffy reflected with amusement, he would have a fast friend in Sanji, at least until he went noodly around a woman. And then Luffy learns that his mentor/father-figure also gave up a limb to ensure his survival, like Shanks had done? Well, even if Luffy hadn't already decided, that cemented it. Sanji was nakama. It's a long, long while later, but Luffy eventually learns that Sanji once belonged to a family that made life hell. But that was before he found the sea. Found freedom. In his eyes, there was a conviction that his loneliness didn't matter, which Luffy thought was bullshit, so long as he could continue cooking for the hungry.

Along comes Chopper, and Luffy finds another family member. With eyes full of the pain of loneliness, of being called a monster just for being different, those eyes mirrored Luffy's so deeply it couldn't be ignored. And this funny little reindeer that couldn't take a compliment was such a mother hen. For the first time in a long time, Luffy found someone who reminded him of Makino, who would often sit by his bedside when he was sick, who would fret and worry if he had the slightest injury.

Robin, Luffy admits, didn't make the best first impression, what with her taking his hat and everything. But, in that same disastrous first meeting, more eyes revealed themsleves to Luffy. Eyes so shadowed by self-loathing and emptiness, Luffy literally thought he was a seven-year-old kid meeting Ace for the first time for a second. How could Luffy leave her to die in that crypt when that would be the same as leaving Ace alone? Later, at Water 7, Luffy is enraged to find what Robin's true motives are. He'll be _damned_ if he'll lose more family to something they think will protect him. Especially when that something condemns them to the hell of loneliness and misery. He may not have been able to save Sabo, but Robin is still in front of him, and she is _not getting away_. How, he privately thinks, watching her read under an umbrella on deck, could anyone believe someone as kind and intelligent as her could be bad?

Franky came next, and another bad impression was made. Franky's family hurt Luffy's family, and that was almost the end of it. But then the Franky family begged the Straw Hats to help him, and he was reminded of the bandit family that raised him. They were so worried about his safety that it made Luffy realize there was no way Franky could be as bad as he originally thought. And in Enies Lobby, when Luffy saw the beating Franky took to try and protect Robin, Luffy decided that Franky would be the next member of his family. It wasn't until it was nearly too late that Luffy was able to look into his eyes, and he was glad he made it in time. Franky's eyes were similar to Sanji's. He had a crushing loneliness, along with guilt he was pretending to be over, and the only reason he had overcome it as well as he had was because of the Franky Family that needed him to keep it together.

Brook, the man who had suffered through solitude more than anyone Luffy had ever met, was the newest to join them. He was from the age of pirates that Shanks spoke of, before everything changed and pirates started being in more for money than freedom. A musician who played with his soul, and whose eyes, not that he had them, were empty and full of life at the same time. Luffy knew his solitude did more damage than most realized. Not only had he been forced to say goodbye to his old crew one by one, but he was also forced to deal with the fact that Laboon, his only remaining friend for so long, probably thought he had been abandoned. But to hear the musician play _Bink's Sake_ , a song he had not heard since he was very young, made Luffy happy that he had chosen to join them rather than go seperate ways once he had his shadow back.

No, Luffy thought to himself, it wasn't his whims that made him want them to come with him. It was their eyes. Their eyes that screamed at him that they were his nakama and he needed to save them from their enemies, their problems, and themselves. After all, he mused, if he couldn't save them from their loneliness, how could he ask them to save him from his?


End file.
